I love a good party hat, don’t you? But I thought they could also be cute when done as headbands. These could be made before a party, ready for the guests, or done as an activity at the party. And I love the versatility that fabric gives you in terms of look and texture but you could easily do these with paper. The next question is, which one do you want to put on your noggin? Here is the easy party hat headband tutorial.

All of the supplies were found at my local craft supply store that carries fabric (Jo-Ann). If you haven’t worked with Phoomph yet, you HAVE to! I freaking love it! (see it in other tutorials here {the HBD sign} and here). It really gives body to fabric making it work in all kinds of new ways. Genius. So pick up your favorite fabric combos, some elastic and Phoomph, then grab your scissors and glue gun and you are all set.

Phoomph is sticky on both sides. All you have to do is peel the backing off and it is ready to go.

Smooth on whatever fabrics you want for your party hats then cut off the excess material. Since the hats rise a bit over the crown of the head, I did a different fabric on the back side as well. You could easily get 8 hats out of one sheet of Phoomph.

Next you get your talented friend to draw the hat shape son free hand. If you are like me and you can’t draw to save your life (no, quite literally, if your life ever depended on me winning a game of Pictionary – well, it was nice knowing you, friend) then just find a template online that you can trace.

And just about any shape would work. I kind of have a thing for crowns. That is why there are so many of that kind. But I also really love the simplicity of the triangular party hat shape. The choice is yours. You can get with this, or you can get with that (old school rap reference, anyone?…)

You make the headband part by hot glueing the elastic ends together, totally easy. Except for that because of the open weave elastic the hot glue came oozing out all over my fingers. Whoops. And ouch. Since that part looks messy, that is where you will want to glue the crown or party hat shape.

And there you have it. I probably should have shot these hats in more of a party situation. But what says party time better than not wearing a shirt? And if you have children, or have ever tried to take a picture of children when they don’t want to then you know what a feat getting this shot of three little boys together was. I even decided to let my son’s hideous DJ tank top slide. Pick your battles, people.

Cute, right?

These hats totally make you fly. (*Disclaimer: These hats don’t really make you fly).

Look at that wonky front tooth! He would absolutely not let us touch it, even though it was pointing straight out!

So, in conclusion, you should totally make these easy Party Had Headbands. The head’s of your party guests will thank you.

I am desperate to get my home decorated. Right now it is just the basic furniture. But it needs color, personality and personal touches. Oh. And a light. My living room really needs a light. Reading my US Weekly by the glow of the TV is not the best way to read the news. My husband and I are going to have to agree on a light so I keep putting that decision off. I really want to stay married. But I have started adding bits and bobs here and there to add color. But I like to personalize things. So I added hot pink to this traditional blue and white floral vase. Not rocket science. I certainly didn’t invent color dipping, but I do love the effect.

I am a little bit obsessed with Hobby Lobby. Partially because I don’t have one that close to me so every time I go I find something totally new to me. And partially because they always are having ridiculous sales on a ton of different items. On the last trip I saw this vase (on sale, what what!) and knew I had to have it. And knew it needed to have pink. And because I know my DIY skill level, if I screwed up the paint, I wouldn’t feel bad about tossing it. Or breaking it and making it in to some sort of mosaic something or other.

So I taped off the bottom, covered the top and painted it. I did two coats of a white primer to make sure the floral pattern wouldn’t show through. Then hit it with my fave neon pink. Of course I let each coat dry before I painted the next one. Thank goodness it was a really warm day because I am very impatient and really wanted it to be done in one day. Quick tip about the tape: Use a credit card to smooth down the edge against the vase to ensure a crisp line. I’ve always skipped this part in the past, you know, on account of my laziness but it really does make a difference!

And I totally love how it came out. I’m not sure where it will go just yet. I am in need of a new side table, a new media console, a new buffet or styled bench seat and a decorated mantle…Or maybe it will go in my bedroom. Or maybe I’ll make 15 more of them and they will be all over my house and it will look like a crazy person lives there.

Do you love the navy and neon as much as I do?! Dang it, this little vase makes me so happy. So do my neighbor’s bouganvilla. You know you have the right neighbor when you go running to her house in your jammies and say quick I need flowers for this silly little vase I just made and need to take pictures of and she drops what she is doing to cut off all her flowers for you. Thanks, Lori!

I posted the results on my instagram and the people asked for a tutorial. And what the people want, the people get.

Grab a t-shirt from the men’s department and a pair of scissors.

Please don’t make me write out instructions for this…

I wore this shirt out on a fun bike ride with my friend the other night. I’m even going to overlook my bloated stomach (after a long weekend of eating ginormous amounts of amazing food) because how rad does my hair look? All wind-blown and fantastic. The shirt is pretty cute too, right? I have about 3 shirts like this. I know I probably should vary my summer wardrobe but they are just so darn comfortable. So, thank you for sharing Andrea!

Oh yeah. And it works just the same on kid’s t-shirts. How cute does my son look? Wait, I mean, how tough does my son look? Because he thinks he could kick your ass when he wears this shirt.

Are you as in love with these personalized travel bags as I am? I don’t mean to pat myself on the back, but I’m really excited with how they turned out. My crafts have a 50/50 chance of coming out great or failing miserably. And I embrace it. But I really like these. And I am super happy to announce that I am doing a little blogging over at King’s Hawaiian Bread. Head on over there to see my travel tips for keeping kids entertained and what to pack in these personalized bags for that long car ride.

I’m sure you are looking at these and thinking, “where are the names? You said this was personalized.” Great observation. But I have been on long car trips before and I know that some sketchy humans can be found in rest stops and tiny coffee shops in the middle of nowhere. I’d prefer that they don’t know my kid’s names. Instead, I chose to personalize them with images that go along with words that we associate with each kid. My oldest son said the word “bicycle” very early in his talking life and has remained a fact that the family talks about. My youngest son said “banana” a lot. Maybe not quite as advanced as “bicycle” but still super cute.

All you need is a blank canvas tote from your local craft store. I bought a 3-pack for about $10 and I’m sure you can find a coupon to use to get them even cheaper.

First start out by painting a pattern on the bag. For the polka dots I simply used a pencil eraser and paint.

For the other bag I decided to tape off a geometric pattern and color each area a different color.

Once the paint is dry, you will need to prepare your iron on transfers. Just follow the directions on the iron on transfer package. But remember, if you are using any words, print the reverse image so that the words come out correctly. I always print out two in case something happens to the first one. And I really hate having to stop in the middle of a project to go print another one. I know my skills and weaknesses, you may not have to print two. And for that I am super jealous. Cut out around the image.

And then iron them on. Again, follow the directions on the transfer paper. If you iron on the paint, it may melt a bit and then smear on the canvas bag. Not that that happened (do NOT look closely at the polka dot bag…). Let it cool and then peel off the backing.

There you have it. Personalized travel bags for your kids.

Head over to the King’s Hawaiian blog to see what I packed in the bags and tips for making your road trip enjoyable.

If you had to pick an image to represent your kids, what would it be?

*This post was not sponsored by Kings Hawaiian Bread. The sponsored content that I am doing for them will only be found on their blog. The DIY portion of the post was created for my readers. Isn’t getting a DIY post so much better than me just putting up a link to go read my blog post over there though?